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Chapter Fifteen

Teal

T hanks to the ominous texts, Teal and Ronan had another reason to come with Dayson to the police station the next morning. The officers took their statements and made records of the messages, but there was no technological wizardry that could reveal who had sent them.

“You sure get a lot of threats,” one of the senior officials said to Teal.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Teal hitched his shoulders.

“Yeah. But usually it’s emails through work, or occasionally something by post. Ronan and I gave up social media a long time ago.

Honestly, we rarely bother reporting them anymore.

But this one seemed necessary to log officially, since it’s on the heels of Dayson getting attacked. ”

The alpha officer tsked. “I don’t understand how these pro-alpha, anti-omega types think. Even if you thought omegas were somehow less than alphas, shouldn’t you then try to protect them? Not bloody them.” He leaned back, resting his hands on his ample belly.

“I think the general idea is that the occasional beating is necessary to keep omegas in line,” Teal replied dryly.

“Well, I truly hope you’re successful in High Court, son. Every victory matters. All three of my boys are omegas, near grown now, and I want them safe.”

Teal nodded. He wondered if the affable sergeant was so vehemently pro-omega prior to siring omega sons.

Then decided it didn’t matter. If raising omegas had turned this man into a more vocal advocate, that was a good thing.

There were plenty of omegas out there—he thought of beautiful Sorcha—whose alpha and beta family members abused them.

Teal’s alpha father, Brinn, had been his biggest supporter.

He and Teal’s omega father had joined in a second marriage for them both.

Neither had had children with their first husbands, so having Teal later-in-life was a miraculous surprise.

Teal’s omega father died when Teal was five, and Brinn had showered his only child with love and attention, instilling in Teal the idea that he was as strong and capable as any man, alpha or beta included.

He encouraged Teal’s education and career, and lived long enough to see him marry Ronan, birth the twins, graduate from law school, and start at Schulman, Carson & Associates.

Teal imagined Brinn would have burst with pride to see his son argue in High Court.

Mr. Carson and Mr. Schulman met them at the station later that morning.

They placed more guards on Dayson through the end of the tribunal and offered security to Ronan and Teal as well.

The couple declined, not wanting to scare the boys, and because they had a top-of-the-line monitoring system at home.

However, they agreed to limit trips outside the duplex to only necessary outings.

They also decided that if any more intimidating texts came through, or if something happened beyond a verbal threat, they’d accept on-site guards.

Teal’s firm managed to keep the incident out of the press, not wanting to give the perpetrators any oxygen.

Dayson returned to his apartment that night, and when Teal met with him the next week to go over his testimony, the ginger omega seemed remarkably unfazed, conversing good-naturedly with his alpha guards.

After Dayson left Teal’s office, Mikel shuffled in. When the gruff alpha simply stood there without speaking, Teal blew out an annoyed breath.

“I don’t have time to trade insults today, Mikel. What do you need?”

Mikel shoved his hands in his pockets. His expression remained inscrutable. “Nothing. I only wanted to make sure Dayson is okay. I heard what happened.”

Teal’s head snapped up. He narrowed his gaze, eyeing his co-worker with fresh eyes.

Why was Mikel asking about Dayson? They'd rarely interacted during High Court prep, and even when they did, Mikel was always curt with their client, almost to the point of rudeness.

Teal had chalked it up to Mikel's general dislike of omegas, but perhaps it was something more sinister.

Was it possible Mikel had something to do with Dayson's attack? The alpha had made those disgusting remarks to Teal a few months ago about showing omegas “what they’re good for.”

Then again, he hadn’t said anything even close to that repulsive since, almost as though he were repentant.

And Teal believed Mikel’s animosity toward him was due to Teal’s advancement at the firm, not because Mikel secretly harbored radical pro-alpha beliefs.

Teal’s gut told him his surly co-worker wasn’t involved in the attack.

Still, with Dayson’s safety at stake, he couldn’t be too cautious.

If Mikel was acting as some sort of mole within the firm, that could be catastrophic.

“Dayson is doing well, considering,” Teal answered evenly.

“That’s good. That’s good.” Mikel nodded. “It’s pretty amazing that getting hurt like that didn’t scare him.”

“Well, he’s a pretty amazing man.”

“Sure,” Mikel replied. “I guess…just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. I know it’s not my case, but if there’s anything…”

“Uh, okay, Mikel. Will do.”

What in the world?

Mikel turned on his heel and walked back into the hallway, leaving Teal to puzzle over the odd exchange.

In over five years of working together, Mikel had never offered to help him.

On more than one occasion, he’d gone out of his way to make Teal’s job harder.

Petty things like hogging the copy machine to more serious infractions like dragging his feet doing research. Offering assistance? Unheard of.

Teal would need to keep an eye on Mikel.

***

The weekend arrived , bringing the promised distraction of the barbeque with Niall and Jax.

Ronan played grill master, and since they didn’t know what Jax liked, he’d bought a bit of everything—hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, vegetable kebobs, and tofu patties.

Teal spent the morning cutting up watermelon and veggies and making two different pasta salads.

The boys had never met Jax, but they knew he was Niall’s boyfriend and were eager to put a face to the name.

An hour before Niall and Jax’s scheduled arrival, Zayne helped Teal arrange the carrots and cucumber slices on a platter while Ronan gave the twins a lesson on grill safety.

“Do you think Niley and Jax will get married?” Zayne asked.

The innocent question hit Teal like an arrow to the heart. Niall had been less standoffish since the incident with Landry’s father at the pool, but selfishly, Teal hated that there was still so much distance between them.

“They might,” Teal answered his son honestly. “They love each other very much. And they live in the same house together.”

“If they get married, will Niley still be our nanny?”

“I really hope so, sweet pea, but even if he’s not, he’ll always be a part of our family.”

Zayne grinned, appeased for the moment. “Look,” he said, “I made a happy face with the teensy tommy-toes.” Teal admired his son’s handiwork. “I hope Jax likes cucumbers like me,” the four-year-old continued. “I put some extwas just in case.”

When the doorbell rang fifty-five minutes later, Teal opened the door with a dramatic roll of his eyes. “For goodness’ sake, Niall. Why are you ringing the bell when you have a perfectly fine key?”

“Don’t know. It just felt weird to use it today.”

“Well, that’s silly,” Teal said affably, trying to put the beta couple at ease.

Teal had met Jax a few times when he’d picked Niall up at the house, but they’d never had a chance to get to know one another.

With his long hair and firm jaw anchoring a severe expression, along with tattoos stretching down his arms and peeking over the neck of his T-shirt, Jax gave off a distinctly broody vibe.

But the warmth beneath his stern exterior was visible in the way he leaned in close to Niall, and in the hesitant smile he offered Teal as he handed over a casserole dish covered in foil.

Teal watched Niall squeeze Jax’s hip. This man was important to Niall, and therefore important to Teal, Ronan, and the boys.

Determined to make Jax feel welcome, Teal smiled widely and ushered the betas into the house. Taking the dish, he declared, “Smells delicious.”

“Thanks,” Jax said. “It’s the one thing I know how to make. Tater tot casserole. My dad taught me.”

“It will go perfect with everything else.”

The men walked through to the kitchen. Teal put Jax’s dish down and lifted the aluminum. “You said your dad taught you this recipe? Was he also a beta?”

“Yeah. Both my dads are betas. My younger brother too. They still live in the beta neighborhood where I grew up.”

It was common for beta couples to have children via adoption or surrogacy, and even more common for all-beta families to live in beta neighborhoods. But since Jax and Niall lived in a mixed neighborhood now, Teal assumed Jax wasn’t one of the betas who had an issue interacting with other genders.

“Don’t worry,” Jax said, sensing the direction of Teal’s thoughts. “I’m not a beta isolationist.”

“That’s true,” Niall added, giving his boyfriend a peck on the cheek. “Jax is proud to be a beta, but part of the reason we fell in love is because of our shared belief in omega rights, in equal rights for all three genders.”

“That’s wonderful,” Teal said. “Having the support of like-minded betas has been integral to getting omega rights codified into decrees.”

“Good thing there are men like you fighting for them,” Jax offered shyly. “Niall is very proud to work for you. He says so all the time.”

Teal locked eyes with Niall and smiled. “We’re the lucky ones to have him looking after our sons.” The air between them crackled with mutual adoration. Teal worried their obvious connection might bother Jax, but the beta seemed almost amused as his gaze volleyed between his boyfriend and Teal.

A squeal sounded from outside, followed by the splat of water against the sliding glass door to the backyard.